Sorrento Therapeutics Welcomes Daniel Levitt as a Director to its Board

Sorrento Therapeutics Welcomes Daniel Levitt as a Director to its Board
PR Newswire
SAN DIEGO, Feb. 3, 2014
SAN DIEGO, Feb. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:
SRNE; Sorrento) a late-stage clinical oncology company developing new
treatments for cancer and associated pain, today announced the addition of
Clinical Oncologist Daniel Levitt, M.D., Ph.D., as a member to its Board of
Directors. He currently serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical
Officer of CytRx Corporation.
"Daniel's proven expertise overseeing the successful development of major
oncology drugs will be invaluable to Sorrento as we advance our pipeline to
address the unmet needs of cancer patients," said Henry Ji, Ph.D., President
and Chief Executive Officer of Sorrento.
Dr. Levitt commented, "I am excited to join Sorrento's Board of Directors at
this pivotal juncture in Sorrento's evolution as it conducts its
registrational trial with Cynviloq™. Sorrento's lead clinical assets and its
strong therapeutic antibody and ADC technologies hold excellent potential for
creating groundbreaking therapies. I look forward to working with the Sorrento
team to help cancer patients and their physicians."
Dr. Levitt brings more than 28 years of senior management experience,
spearheading numerous oncology drug development programs to commercialization
at leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, including CytRx
Corporation, Cerimon Pharmaceuticals, Dynavax Technologies Corporation,
Affymax, Protein Design Labs, Geron, Sandoz Pharmaceuticals, and
Hoffmann-LaRoche. He graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a
Bachelor of Arts degree from Brandeis University. He earned both his M.D. and
his Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of
Medicine. Dr. Levitt has received 10 major research awards and authored or
co-authored more than 200 papers and abstracts.
In addition, Sorrento announced that Ernst-Guenter Afting, Ph.D. has stepped
down from the Board of Sorrento to focus on consulting and board activities in
Europe. "We thank Dr. Afting for his many contributions to the Company," said
Henry Ji.
About Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.
Sorrento is an oncology company developing new treatments for cancer and
associated pain. Sorrento's most advanced asset is Cynviloq, the
next-generation paclitaxel, which will commence its registrational trial and
be developed under the abbreviated 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway. Sorrento is
also developing RTX, a non-opiate TRPV1 agonist currently in a Phase 1/2 study
at the National Institutes of Health to treat terminal cancer patients
suffering from intractable pain. The Company has made significant advances in
developing human monoclonal antibodies, complemented by a comprehensive and
fully integrated ADC platform that includes proprietary conjugation
chemistries, linkers, and toxic payloads. Sorrento's strategy is to enable a
multi-pronged approach to combating cancer with small molecules, therapeutic
antibodies, and ADCs.
More information is available at www.sorrentotherapeutics.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements under the safe harbor
provisions of Section 21E of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995 and subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those projected. Forward-looking statements include
statements about the potential for products to be successfully developed using
the Concortis technologies; the synergies and prospects for a combined
enterprise going forward, including the retention of key personnel; and the
clinical development and commercial potential of conjugated antibodies that
may be developed based on the acquired technologies; the potential for claims
from third parties regarding the use of the antibody-drug conjugates and
related technology that may be developed from the merger; the costs and
expenses associated with the merger and additional clinical development
programs from successful product development efforts; and other matters that
are described in Sorrento's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2012, and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the risk factors set forth
in those filings. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this
release and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement
in this press release except as required by law.
SOURCE Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.
Website: http://www.sorrentotherapeutics.com
Contact: Mr. Amar Singh, EVP and Chief Business Officer, Sorrento
Therapeutics, Inc., asingh@sorrentotherapeutics.com, T: + 1 (858) 210-3719; or
Mr. Ian Stone, Account Director, Canale Communications, ian@canalecomm.com, T:
+ 1 (619) 849-5388